Magnolia Picks up Alex Gibney’s Untitled Eliot Spitzer Documentary

Magnolia Pictures has picked up US distribution rights Alex Gibney’s upcoming Eliot Spitzer documentary. Spitzer’s legacy will most likely be that he liked the high-price whores. Unfortunately, Spitzer was one of the great crusaders against the financial corruption. As New York’s attorney general he prosecuted crimes against the largest financial institutions and some of the most powerful executives in the country. When he was elected governor, he won by such a wide margin that many believed he could be come the first Jewish president. And then the whore-thing broke and it all came crashing down. It’s your tragic rise/fall stuff, but I hope it’s also an interesting look at how our country held a man’s personal, non-criminal actions more important than his attempts to stop real criminals who ended up destroying our financial system.

Hit the jump for the synopsis of the currently untitled documentary, click here for a clip from the film, and click here for our interview with Gibney where he spoke about the project. [Screen Daily]

This work-in-progress documentary from the Academy Award®-winning director of Taxi to the Dark Side takes an in-depth look at the rapid rise and dramatic fall of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Nicknamed “the Sheriff of Wall Street” when he was New York’s attorney general, Eliot Spitzer prosecuted crimes by America’s largest financial institutions and some of the most powerful executives in the country. After his election as governor with the largest margin in the state’s history, many believed Spitzer was on his way to becoming the nation’s first Jewish president.

Then, suddenly, shockingly, Spitzer’s meteoric rise turned into a precipitous fall when the New York Times revealed that Spitzer-the paragon of rectitude-had been caught seeing prostitutes. As his powerful enemies gloated, his supporters questioned the timing of it all: as the sheriff fell, so did the financial markets, in a cataclysm that threatened to unravel the global economy. With unique access to friends, acquaintances, and enemies of the ex-governor (many of whom have come forward for the first time), this film explores the hidden contours of this tale of hubris, sex, and power.